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NCW chair writes to Bengal chief secy over Kolkata law college gangrape
The National Commission for Women has written to the chief secretary of West Bengal directing urgent action in the South Kolkata gang-rape case and the state police's cooperation for a meeting between a member of the rights panel and the survivor and her family.
NCW Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar termed the incident "grave" and said it had "shaken public conscience". The women's rights panel took suo motu cognizance of the case on Friday.
It has expressed deep concern for the safety, dignity, and well-being of the survivor and stressed the need for a swift institutional response.
In her letter to the chief secretary, Rahatkar directed that the state police must fully cooperate with NCW member Archana Mujumdar, who has been deputed to meet the survivor and her family.
The commission has also sought an immediate and confidential internal medical examination of the survivor and asked that both internal and external medical reports be submitted to the NCW within three days.
Further, the commission has urged the state to ensure strong safety and security arrangements for the survivor and her family.
The law student was allegedly raped by her two seniors and a former student of the educational institute inside the college building in south Kolkata on June 25 evening following which the police arrested three.
The three accused -- an ex-student and now a lawyer with alleged links to the ruling Trinamool Congress and two others -- were arrested on Thursday night in.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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This was after the party tried to move away from the shadow of Yediyurappa during 2020-2023. The decision sparked resentment in the state party as senior leaders like Yatnal, Basavaraj Bommai, Shobha Karandlaje and C T Ravi were thus forced to follow Vijayendra, a first-time MLA. In January this year, senior BJP leader and Union minister Shivaraj Singh Chouhan had said that an election would be held for the post of the Karnataka BJP president as part of the organisational polls. This resulted in Vijayendra's rivals stepping up their attacks on him. In March, the party leadership expelled Vijayendra's key rival Yatnal, suggesting that it favoured a full three-year term for him. There seems to be a view in a large section of the state BJP that the leadership would not take the risk of dislodging Vijayendra from his post as it could also cost the party a backlash from its main support group — Lingayats to which Yediyurappa and his son belong. There appears to be however some uncertainty about the continuance of Ashok despite the point that he is from the Vokkaliga community, another dominant group in the state.
